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Saturday, August 05, 2006
Editorials: Conflict at the airport
Former Mactan Cebu International Airport general manager Adelberto Yap is not clinging to the post with his latest offensive, he just wants, he said, to clear his name of the charges being leveled against him.
The charges, especially those involving corrupt acts, are serious and Yap has all the right to do what he is doing now---hire topnotch lawyers and speak out in the media---to be able to defend himself.
And it would benefit the public if he will expose whatever irregularity of other airport officials he had stumbled upon in the past, as long as these are not fabrications like part of a document he submitted to the Civil Service Commission.
In conflicts like this, one positive point is that whatever is buried will be dug up by the protagonists in the course of their offensive and defensive actions.
Which is good for transparency.
Collateral damage
What is worrisome, however, is when both sides—the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) board and Yap—won’t consider collateral damage in the conduct of the verbal exchange and legal battle.
Consider, for example, that the airport is one vital facility in Cebu’s hosting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations summit in December, which incidentally is but more than four months away.
The actions of both sides must note their implication in the summit’s preparation.
This early, Yap and his lawyers have filed the first salvo by insisting that Yap is still airport manager and warning officer-in-charge Romeo Bersonda that he is liable for usurpation of authority and administrative, criminal and civil liabilities.
While Yap’s gambit may not matter at this stage considering that he has been alienated fully at the airport, court action may yet mess up the new organizational setup and eventually disturb plans for the summit.
Public pressure
Of course, it could be asking too much from the players in this conflict that they consider every implication of their move, especially on their effect on the operation of the airport.
But public pressure may yet be able to push the protagonists to consider public good. |
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